Multiple sclerosis is a highly variable disease for which the cause and pathogenssis remain unknown. No preventive measures or definitive therapies exist. In approximately 60 percent of patients the disease is manifested by exacerbations and remissions. Even in the early stages of disease, clinical recovery from exacerbations may be incomplete leading to accumulation of neurologic deficits. The disease enters a chronic phase and becomes progressively worse over time.
The primary pathology of multiple sclerosis is confined to the central nervous system, where macroscopic lesions ranging from about 1 mm to 4 cm are scattered throughout the white matter. These are known as plaques. Microscopically, the characteristic features are inflammation and myelin damage, with relative sparing of axons. Such observations suggest that the primary site of the pathology is the myelin membrane or the oligodendrocyte.
Due to the lack of effective treatments for multiple sclerosis and the inability to prevent the onset of the disease, treatments to ameliorate or reverse the course of the disease are needed. Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide methods for stimulating myelination of nerve cells. It is another object of the invention to provide methods for treatment of mammalian diseases characterized by myelin destruction such as multiple sclerosis and after viral infection.